( 17 )
to oppose him. This armament bore but a small proportion to that of Edward's; but it was composed of soldiers who were hardened by long practice of war, and who now carried upon the point of their sword, liberty and honour, and every thing that was dear to them. With these Robert took up his station in the neighbourhood of Stirling, and waited for Edward's arrival.
The two armies came in sight of each other in the month of June, and soon after a bloody battle was fought, in which the Scots obtained a victory, the most celebrated of any in the annals of that kingdom. The procedure of this memorable event was as follows.
The English having marched from Edinburgh to Falkirk in one day, and upon the morrow, setting out from thence towards Stirling, encamped to the northward of the Torwood. About Upper-Bannockburn, and backward upon the Muir of Plain, in the neighbourhood of the ancient Roman Casway, pieces of broken pots, and other'vessels, have been found; and upon rocks near the surface, marks of fire have been discovered, where it was supposed the soldiers had made ready their provisions. Barbour, the author of King Robert Bruce's life, speaks as if their camp had stretched so far northward as to occupy a part of castle ground; and so vast a multitude must doubtless have covered a large tract of the country. The Scottish army was posted about
